Why Warren Buffett Wants To Pay More

Everyone has their own idea on how to fix the economy, most typical tax payers would agree however that they are not so jazzed about paying extra taxes. Warren Buffett, for many reasons, is not your typical tax payer.

Buffett recently wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times, “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich”, that has heated up the tax debate. In the piece, Buffett explains why he would prefer the government charge he and his other “mega-rich” friends more income tax as a way to strengthen the economy and take some heat off the less financially fortunate population.

Buffett argues, “While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.” Many people, including President Barack Obama, agree and believe taxing the super-rich is a more fair and just way to run the economy.

There are critics of Buffett’s economic theory that think taxing the small uber-wealthy population would do more harn than good for the economy. Jeffrey Miron wrote an op-ed piece for CNN to explain why he thinks Buffett is wrong. For one, Miron says that the number of super-rich who would be charged extra taxes is too small to make much of a dent in our deficit.

Miron also believes that by “singling out” the super-rich like this, the government would be sending the wrong message. Miron writes, “The way to promote a hard-working, entrepreneurial and innovative society is to celebrate great wealth so long as it has been earned by legitimate means. When this is not the case, policy should target the wrongdoing directly, not demonize everyone who hits it big.”

Do you think the super-wealthy population should be paying more in taxes?

Would you agree that government tends to “coddle” those who make extraordinary salaries?

Does anyone know how much Buffet owes in back taxes now? Looks like he's in the hole going all the way back to 2002- Maybe he should put his money where his mouth is and pay what he owes before he starts talking about what everyone else should be paying.